Once Human
by Ardna
Summary: After his defeat, Pitch never expects any of the Guardians to come see him. Why would they? But one does, and with a goal Pitch cannot comprehend: his redemption.


_**Author's notes:** So, I saw _Rise of the Guardians_ earlier today. It has been a while since I've cried at a movie, and this dearheart claimed my tears several times._

_I am a firm believer in redemption. No one, how far down they go, is beyond it. Even if you're the Nightmare King.  
_

_**warnings:** spoilers for _Rise of the Guardians_, and some from the books (_Guardians of Childhood_)  
_

* * *

_"Daddy! Daddy!"_

"I'm sorry," Pitch sobs, curling into his corner and rocking as he tries to hide from the darkness. He's already searched every part of this pit that was once his black kingdom, he's stumbled over every inch and cut his bloodless fingers countless times. Dents into the hollow man's frame.

_"Daddy! Help Daddy, they're going to get me! DADDY!"_

Pitch screams, dragging out whatever pieces of a soul he had left. He already knows she's gone, knows that his daughter has been dead for _thousands_ of years and there's nothing he can do to bring her back. He can't save her, just as he couldn't save her then.

He tries to cover his ears, fingers gritting on the corrupted Dreamsand coiled around him. A choked whimper bursts from him and he rocks again. "I'm sorry, dear, I'm so sorry," he cries, cringing at the echoing _daddydaddydaddy_ that tears through his mind.

And then he snaps away as his head is struck. By something _real_. Something cold and wet and forcing the black sand away…

Pitch looks up. Jack Frost looks back down. The boy's face is grim, evaluating. Pitch doesn't like it. He snarls up at him, "If you want a display, Jack, find yourself a zoo."

"I'm not fond of cages," Jack replies. His crook lifts and him with it, and he lands softly in Pitch's hole, gleaming frost blossoming around his toes. He plops down on his rump and folds his legs in an easy manner, setting his staff across his knees. "See, I've been thinking."

"Oh, fear forbid," Pitch replies dryly. His yellow eyes gleam with hate, but like him, it is weak.

Jack chuckles. "I know, not my style. But there was something Tooth told me: every Guardian, or every boogeyman, was once a person. Someone ordinary and human, but with something more that allowed us to become what we are." His blue gaze is piercingly curious, and Pitch loathes the feeling of being scrutinized. "So who were _you?_"

Pitch evades the answer. "Perhaps I don't remember."

"No, you do," Jack says certainly. "You just don't want to. Because it hurts? C'mon Pitch, who you were wasn't such a—"

"There are pains worse than not being believed in," Pitch growls, staring at Jack intently. "Pains that you cannot possibly comprehend." He struggles to his feet, glares at Jack. "Why did you come here? To taunt me?"

"No," Jack replies, and a smirk pulls his lips up. "I came to invite you."

"To what?" Pitch demands.

A snowball smacks him in the face, and Jack's smirk becomes a full grin. "Snow day!" he exclaims happily, and his crook brings him into the air. He stretches out a hand. "Come on, Pitch."

Pitch stares at the hand. "I don't understand."

"You're human too, Pitch," Jack says, his words strong with faith. "Somewhere in you is good, it just needs to be out in the open again. And everyone loves a snow day."

Pitch hesitates. His fingers move forward the tiniest bit and somehow Jack takes this as a yes. He snatches the Nightmare King's hand and yanks him after, flying happily out of the pit and taking them to the small meadow nearby. The same children who had brought about Pitch's defeat were there, tumbling about with laughter and snowballs.

Jamie, the last light, jumped out of the snowbank he had been plowed into and released an excited cry. "Jack Frost! Jack Frost!"

None of them cry at the sight of the Boogeyman. None of them know Pitch is here. Jack sets Pitch down and lands beside him. "Hey guys!" His forever young face is alight with happiness, with the ecstasy of being _believed_ in. Pitch has only ever experienced a semblance of that.

Some chat strikes up between Jack and his friends, the children. Pitch makes a seat of a frosted tree stump and watches them silently. He knows he is weak and if he tries to move away Jack can freeze him to the core. It may not be possible for fear to die but it can certainly endure a lot of damage.

Jack can't stay serious for long. Sneakily he crafts a snowball and tosses it at a young girl, who laughs and gets the snowball fight going. In the middle of it, Jack turns and gestures for Pitch to come. "Join in, Pitch!" he calls. "This is the whole point of a snow day!"

"Who are you talking to?" Jamie asks. Pitch feels a stab of pain.

"Oh, just Pitch," Jack says casually. "You know, the Boogeyman, but he's really not all that scary." He smiles slightly. "At least, not anymore."

"Don't bother, Jack," Pitch says softly, and he remembers again what defeat is. "I don't even exist to them. I'm not real."

He staggers back when a snowball bigger than his head crashes into him, caking his face and hair with snow and Jack Frost magic. Blue sparkles before his eyes, the world seems to change and the filters alter…

Pitch blinks dumbly. Jack steps up next to him. "Is this what the world looks like to you?" Pitch whispers.

"All the time," Jack replies with a smile.

"I had forgotten," Pitch murmurs. He looks down when Jack sets a patterned canister in his hand.

"You can remember again," Jack tells him. He turns and rejoins the children in their play.

Pitch considers the golden object in his hand, bearing a version of his face he almost couldn't remember. How the Tooth Fairy had managed to find his childhood teeth, when he outages her by so much, is a mystery.

Pitch's ears are echoing with the sounds of children's laughter. They almost drown out his lost daughter's cries. Pitch holds the canister in his hand for another moment, and then his fingers reach down and touch the multi-colored surface. A childhood's memory comes back to him again.


End file.
